Drawdown Lock
A threshold at which a trailing drawdown stops moving up — the floor "locks" at starting balance plus a small buffer, so further profits don't tighten the drawdown floor.
What is Drawdown Lock?
Drawdown lock is the threshold at which a trailing drawdown stops trailing. Up until the lock point, every dollar of profit moves the drawdown floor up by a dollar. Once the lock is reached, the floor freezes at that level — and from that point forward, the trailing drawdown effectively behaves like a static drawdown.
This is the most important mechanical milestone in any trailing-drawdown account. Before the lock, you’re in the dangerous phase: any major intraday peak (under live trailing) or major closing high (under EOD) drags the floor up with you. After the lock, your accumulated profits become a real cushion that protects you from drawdown.
Apex’s lock threshold on standard PA accounts is starting balance + $100 — so a $50K eval locks at $50,100. TPT’s lock is exactly starting balance — $50K eval locks at $50,000 even. The exact number varies by firm, but the pattern is consistent: a small buffer above starting balance, after which the trail stops.
How Drawdown Lock works
Path to lock on a $50K Apex account (intraday option):
- Day 0: Account opens at $50,000. Drawdown floor: $47,500. Lock threshold: $50,100.
- Day 1: Trader earns $300. High of day mark-to-market: $50,300. Floor moves to $47,800.
- Day 2: Trader earns $400. Mark-to-market peak: $50,700. Floor moves to $48,200.
- Day 3: Trader earns $200. Peak $50,900. Floor moves to $48,400.
- Day 4: Trader earns $300. Peak $51,200. Floor moves to $48,700.
- Day 5: Trader earns $400. Peak $51,600. Floor moves to $49,100.
- …continues until peak reaches $50,000 + $2,500 = $52,500. At that moment, floor would move to $50,000 (starting balance). But Apex locks at +$100 — so floor moves to $50,100 once peak hits $52,600. After this, the floor stops moving — locked permanently.
The dramatic post-lock change: Before the lock, your trading buying power is roughly equal to the original drawdown amount ($2,500 for most $50K accounts). After the lock, every dollar of profit you accumulate adds to your buying power in a real way. A trader at $60,000 (locked floor at $50,100) has $9,900 of room before drawdown breach — versus $2,500 of room had the trail still been active.
Lock thresholds across firms: Apex $50K = $50,100. Apex $100K = $100,100. TPT $50K Test = $50,000 (exact starting balance). TPT $50K PRO = $50,000 (exact starting balance, intraday trail). Tradeify varies by product. Verify the lock threshold for your specific firm and account size before assuming.
Worked example
Same trader before and after lock on $50K Apex Intraday:
Pre-lock — Day 8, account at $52,000:
- Drawdown floor: $49,500 (still trailing)
- Effective room: $52,000 – $49,500 = $2,500
- Trader takes a $2,000 unrealized hit on a bad trade — mark-to-market $50,000. Floor still at $49,500. Survives by $500.
- If the bad trade had been $2,800 instead of $2,000 — BREACH at $49,200 vs floor at $49,500.
Post-lock — Day 14, account at $56,000 (locked floor at $50,100):
- Drawdown floor: $50,100 (locked, will never move higher)
- Effective room: $56,000 – $50,100 = $5,900
- Same $2,800 bad trade — mark-to-market $53,200. Floor at $50,100. Plenty of room. Trader continues.
- The lock has effectively given the trader $3,400 more breathing room than pre-lock.
This is why “reach the lock” is the early-stage strategic priority on every trailing drawdown account. The lock fundamentally changes the risk model.
Drawdown Lock vs related concepts
Side-by-side comparison of Drawdown Lock against the most commonly confused alternatives.
| Concept | Definition | Category |
|---|---|---|
| Drawdown Lock this term | A threshold at which a trailing drawdown stops moving up — the floor "locks" at starting balance plus a small buffer, so further profits don't tighten the drawdown floor. | Rules & Risk |
| Trailing Drawdown | A drawdown limit that follows your account's high water mark, tightening as you profit and capping your maximum loss from peak balance — the dominant risk model in the futures prop firm industry. | Rules & Risk |
| EOD Drawdown | A trailing drawdown that updates only at the end of the trading day based on closing balance, ignoring intraday peaks — significantly more forgiving than intraday trailing. | Rules & Risk |
| Live Trailing Drawdown | A trailing drawdown that updates in real time on every tick of unrealized profit, including intraday peaks — the most punishing drawdown variant. | Rules & Risk |
| Static Drawdown | A drawdown limit fixed at a single dollar amount below starting balance that does not move up as the account grows — the simplest and most predictable drawdown model. | Rules & Risk |
| Max Drawdown | The total dollar amount your account can lose from its highest point (or starting balance) before the account is automatically closed. | Rules & Risk |
How major prop firms handle Drawdown Lock
Every firm implements drawdown lock differently. Here's the firm-by-firm breakdown — DGT-trusted firms surface first, with implementation notes for each.
| Firm | How they handle it | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Apex Trader Funding DGT TRUSTED | Locks at starting balance + $100 once the high water mark reaches starting + $2,500 + $100. So a $50K account locks at floor = $50,100 once mark-to-market hits $52,600. Same +$100 buffer applies across all account sizes. | |
| Take Profit Trader DGT TRUSTED | Test (eval) accounts lock at exactly starting balance once reached. PRO funded accounts also lock at starting balance under the intraday trailing model. The lock buffer is essentially zero on TPT. | |
| Tradeify DGT TRUSTED | Lock threshold varies by product (Growth, Select, Lightning). Lightning Funded accounts have lower lock thresholds for faster path to "real cushion" trading. Verify per-product on tradeify.co. | |
| Lucid Trading DGT TRUSTED | Lock threshold varies by Lucid funded product. Some Lucid products use static drawdown from day 1, eliminating the concept of a lock entirely. | |
| FundedNext DGT TRUSTED | Lock mechanics on the futures vertical depend on the specific product chosen. FundedNext recently expanded futures offerings with revised drawdown rules — verify current mechanics on fundednext.com. | |
| Phidias Prop Firm DGT TRUSTED | Drawdown lock thresholds documented per product. Phidias offers variants with different lock points to match different trader risk profiles. |
Why traders fail Drawdown Lock
Treating the lock as a hard requirement to pass evaluation. The lock is a milestone, not a pass condition. Many traders pass evaluation cleanly without ever reaching the lock — they hit the profit target before the floor catches up. Don’t try to “chase the lock” if your trades are working.
Increasing position size after lock. Once locked, the cushion grows with profits — but that’s not an invitation to overtrade. The same risk management discipline that got you locked should continue. Doubling position size after lock often results in giving back the cushion you spent weeks building.
Confusing lock with pass. Lock just stops the floor from trailing. Pass means hitting the profit target while complying with all rules. You can lock without passing (if you stall after locking) and you can pass without locking (if you target-hit before reaching the lock threshold).
Forgetting that lock is per-account. Each new evaluation or funded account starts with the lock threshold un-reached. Locking on one account doesn’t carry to the next. Multi-account traders are constantly working multiple accounts toward their respective lock thresholds.
Frequently asked questions about Drawdown Lock
When does my trailing drawdown lock?
Once your account's high water mark reaches the lock threshold defined by your firm. At Apex, that's starting balance + $2,600 (so $52,600 on a $50K account). At TPT, it's starting balance + drawdown amount. Verify the exact number for your specific account.
Does the lock mean I can't lose the account?
No. The lock means the FLOOR stops moving up. You can still breach the floor if you take losses below the locked level. The lock just freezes the floor — it doesn't eliminate it.
Can the drawdown unlock?
No. Once locked, it stays locked for the life of that account. Closing the account and starting a new evaluation resets the lock — but on the original account, the lock is permanent.
Should I aim for the lock or for the profit target?
Both — they're usually achieved in similar ranges. Profit target on a 6% account is $3,000 (on $50K). Lock threshold on Apex is $52,600 (peak), which represents +$2,600 from starting. Hitting the profit target almost always means you've also locked.
Why do firms lock the drawdown instead of letting it trail forever?
Pure trailing drawdown forever would tighten infinitely as accounts profit, eventually making any trade impossible. The lock is the firm's recognition that beyond a certain profit level, the trader has demonstrated the necessary discipline and the trail no longer serves a risk-management purpose.